Fortuitous Accidents

Somehow the long-haired general managed to knock a partially painted Forge Limited edition figure off the painting tray and onto the floor, causing certain bits to break off last weekend. These were then immediately consumed by the dog (who seems unbothered after eating resin)!

The backpack was easy enough to replace, the hammer and shield, however....

So with a new hammer en route, as well as the bits to craft a Volkite Serpenta pistol, looks like I'll shortly have Marshal Durak Rask ready for action:

First Twenty Death Guard

The first 20 strong Tactical Squad with CCW (marked by the bayonets etc.) in Mk II armour is nearly there. Just a little more weathering on their right pauldrons and then off for varnishing:

As you can see, I went with red for the Sergeant's helmet crest after all, but he is now good to go:

I plan to do a spare sergeant to give me the option of running them as two ten man veteran squads.

Next on the conveyor belt is a 10 man Heavy Support Squad in MkIII armour and some Termies...

Grimbold and more Death Guard

Here's the big man himself with standard bearer and horn blower:

They're facing their first outing today, so I expect to be packing them away early!

Also fresh of the production line, nine more Death Guard. I've put some rusting barbed wire on the bases this time, but might add a touch of silver here and there to help them stand out more:

The right hand pauldrons have been varnished gloss ready to receive transfers later this weekend :-)

Riders

Just need to finish the command team to have this unit ready for action against Saruman's horde on Saturday. That wont be a drama. Of more concern is whether Erkenbrand turns up in the post in time!

Anyway, here's the rank and file.

Arrows are courtesy of the Perry WotR box set, As mentioned, the command team should be ready by tomorrow. So group shot to follow :-)

Chalk and Cheese

Some more Death Guard under a Sergeant.

I'm not convinced that plain green makes for a striking helmet crest. Might put some white stripes in there or switch to red.

Transfers from FW arrived on Friday, just waiting on some microsol to sort out their right pauldrons.

Then we have the last of the rank and file Riders of Rohan:

Horus Heresy Goodness

Butterfly! Moi?

So with Dux Britanniarum filling the gaming schedule and LotR as an option for break, why start another project?

Well my VI Legion thing has been going for a while (17 years or so), but I've been concentrating on a Horus Heresy era force for the last three years. whilst the bulk were all ready about 18 months ago, it's nice to add a new items every once and while. This week it was a new Battle Leader:

Then there came to chance to pick-up a bargain stack of Forge World Death Guard. They previous owner had done a reasonable basic paint and wash job on them. So it's a case of removing flash lines, getting into the nooks and crannies, some fresh weathering and then redoing the base. Decals are on route, but this test paint is of a bog standard Tactical Marine at the time of the Betrayal:

Still not sure whether to stick with the brown basing over my traditional GW black. I think black goes well with the snow, but I like the grimy look for the Death Guard. Decisions, decisions ;-)

Rohirrim

February's task is to put together a 500 pt Rohirrim force for Lord of the Rings.

After using Hama and Gamling for test paints, it was onto the Riders of the West Fold:

As you can see, I am doing them in batches of four based on horse colour. With greys and bays ready for battle, next up is the Chestnut troop ;-)

Oh and here are the test paints:

First Blood

As Cadwallen sought to peer through the sea mist, the sound of church bells echoed over his shoulder. He looked at Yvor, ‘Have I missed a saint’s day?’. In truth, he didn’t expect a reply from his gruff champion. The son of a women from Kernow, Yvor’s version of Christianity was as close to pagan as their wild Saxon foes. Their collection of local saints Cadwallon could barely pronounce, never mind remember. No, this meant trouble, and his gut told him the Saxons were at the heart of it.

The heathen had landed further up the coast and marched swiftly inland, as the parish priest was heading outside to tend to his pigs, he caught sight of the glint of armour as heathens crossed the hill south of the village. He quickly called for his flock to head for the woods and tuned to hide the few items of worth his church held.

Within minutes the Saxons were swarming through the village, like bloated flies feasting on an open sore. There was little point searching the muddy hovels of the villagers, the Saxon Warlord was not here for pigs or slaves. So he led two groups of his warriors into the church. Here at least there was gold to be had, but the priest had clearly had time to hide it well.

Cadwallen had deployed his forces well. Although caught off-guard, troops were well-placed to cover various eventualities. As his Centurion father had drummed into him, ‘Failing to prepare is preparing to fail’. Morcant was quartered in the next village with a band of trained warriors and Iago with Cadwallen’s household troops and another band of warriors only a short march away. The British lord put his trust in his subordinates to hold the heathen at bay whilst he gathered more men. The Saxons wretches would pay dearly for their blasphemy.

Morcant quickly drove some Saxon bowmen hovering on the outskirts of the village back and formed his men to cover the arrival of Iago and his troops. Seeing the British appear on his western flank, the Saxon warlord dispatched his Hearthguard under a warrior dressed in fur-lined robes to confront them. As the Saxon jogged forwards a hulking, black clad warrior emerged from their midst. Not so good, thought Morcant. Thankfully Iago and his men had arrived to bolster his line. Now we shall see the mettle of these men.

As the heathen screamed obscenities in their guttural tongue, the British line stoically formed line. ‘Look at me’, spoke Iago, ‘This is the land of our fathers, they have bled for it and so shall we. Do not step back, do not look to your fellows, but kill the pagan scum that infest our land. They shall not pass’.

Led by their mighty champion, the Saxon wedge struck the British line like an enraged bull. Shields were shattered and spears sundered in the first shocking exchange. The British held. Again came the Saxons, their champion standing tall and swinging his great sword against the enemy line. The British held. Gradually, their superior numbers allowed them to slip men around the ends of the Hearthguard’s line. As the battle hung in the balance, Cadwallon emerged from the dark forest surrounded by those villagers collected on his march north. Rallying Iago’s battered companions, Cadwallon sent a group left to bypass the battle and threaten the Saxon party sacking the church. Meanwhile he led the other into the fray. Overwhelmed, the heathen line collapsed and fled.

However, even as the night-clad champion fell to a Morcant's blade, shouts of joy were heard from the church. The Saxon Lord had found what he had come for and quickly led the remains of his force from the field. Victory, but at a cost. The British harried the retreating raiders back to their boats and it would take some months for both sides to recover. As he looked at the loot, the Saxon Warlord signed, barely enough to cover his expenses. They would have to come again and this time he would not underestimate the might of the British warriors.

Last of the Warriors ... and Gothmog

As promised, the last 12 warriors for my Dux starter force, leaving just the general and champion to crack :-)

and Gothmog - enough said!

Procrastination

So, whilst I try to find things to do rather than actually draft an article on Philip, bishop of Beauvaix, I thought I might just lay out my plans for this year.

1. Finish the Musketeer Romano-Brits for Dux. Now this might seem like cheating as their are only two characters to crack once I finished off the last of the warriors on my painting tray, but reinforcements are on their way!

2. A Rohirrim force for LotR, 500 points planned so far.

3. 20mm Polish Naval Infantry Brigade (minus) for a Cold War Gone Hot scenario c. 1985.

4. Finish off the 28mm 1415 Valois French (only a couple of units to crack there).

5. Finish off my 28mm Honda Sammy army (again a couple of units).

6. Ongoing Fallschirmjäger project (only aiming at 3-4 figures a month).

Now that just leaves the stockpile of Perry WotR and Crusaders, as well as the lovely Claymore Scots unaccounted for (Oh and a 20mm British Motor Bn, three medieval Kogges and...)

Next and somewhat ignoble character for Dux and some LotR

So with the last 12 Warriors at various stages of completion. Here's another character, short and wiry, cruel, lustful and a noble-born exile (hence the pink trousers!):

and some recent LotR pieces for my Mordor army:

I have Gothmog close to completion, some Uruk-hai to finish off and then some Warg Riders and 6 more Uruk-hai to make-up. However, the Rohirrim are calling me ;-)

The last of the Pueri

It took a while to get the shields finished off - even with LBMS transfers, you still have to do some work ;-)

Next in the queue we have 12 warriors including a commander and standard bearer, as well as two characters. Unfortunately, it seems the tricksy Dane is almost finished, but I'm still on line to meet the end of the month deadline.

There's just the small matter of 15,000 words for the PhD to crack by end of play Monday... Oh and an article of Philip of Dreux for Medieval Warfare Magazine. I hope you all enjoy the one on the Black Prince in Spain that will be coming out shortly. There's a cracking painting of the main man himself by Jason Juta, as well as some fine maps.

CoE Xmas Challenge

Having problems posting photos on the Clash if Empires site. So here is my Fallschirmjäger platoon HQ ready for action:

and some of my earlier stuff:

Dux in a row...

Some of you may have picked up on Thorbjörn and my thread on the Lead Adventure Forum. However, at the risk of repeating things, here is my work to date:

Noble 1 - the son of a centurion, Iago is a man mountain with the constitution of an ox.

Iago (now with his shield) leading the Commitatus

Pueri 1

Pueri 2

Archers

 Priest

Liebster do dah

I am the grateful the only non-Swedish recipient of the Liebster Award courtesy of Dalauppror (http://dalauppror.blogspot.dk/2012/11/awarded.html#comment-form)

His nomination said:

"If you were an Englishman in exile in Denmark you would also need and deserve an Award for your blog. Stephen isn’t only a very talented miniature painter, he also a very good friend that, out of the blue, offered to guide me around in London during this years Salute, be sure to make he’s blog Janner´s Jaunt a visit."

Then out of the blue came Jim Hale's:

"Stephen is another medievalist, whose blog doesn't get the attention it deserves. There are some really well painted miniatures on his blog."

The rules are very easy:

• "Copy and paste" the award on your blog, and talk about it a bit.

• Select for the award your five favourite blogs with less than 200 followers, leaving a comment on one of their post to notify them that they have won the award. You need also to list them in your own blog.

• Enjoy the moment, knowing that you have just made someone´s day.

Of course, there is no obligation to pass on the award, but why pass up the chance to recommend 5 great sites.

Now, I seem to have come late to this one and most of my favourite's have already picked up something. However, Dr The Viking has just relaunched his blog:

http://clovermilk.blogspot.dk - still early days with our new Dux Britanithingy project, but lots to see on past projects.

http://newsfromthefront-phil.blogspot.dk - Taking of Dux, Phil has a slowly, but beautifully building collection.

http://insosworld.blogspot.dk - for a reminder of the fun part of gaming, as well as some great ideas. 

http://600transformer.blogspot.dk - Guy Halsall in good form.

http://age-of-discovery.blogspot.dk - Stephen May putting us all the shame with his productivity levels.

Last unit almost done

Okay, have to be quick as I'm meant to be getting ready to go out ;-)

Last formed unit for HYW English force c.1415 (just the flags to finish):

Got to run...

HYW - Lights, Camera, Action!

Unfortunately my camera skills were not up to the task yesterday. So only two images are even close to being worth posting  :'(

The two armies in all their (slightly out of focus) glory

Much needed medical help for the French after the Mounted Knights are dispersed after becoming entangled on stakes and their dismounted colleagues are whittled down and break before they can make it to the English front line.

Victory to Dr.The Viking  :D

Good run out for the draft HYW lists I'd done for CoE with stakes nerfing the Heavy Horse nicely, pavises providing great protection, and the dismounted Men-at-Arms taking a lot of shooting from two large expert archer units before breaking.

Forcing the English to redeploy and getting those pesky archers out from behind their stakes will make all the difference  ;)